25 February 2017 | Whale Tours Gansbaai

Guide Summary and Photographs

Due to a very low tide, we had to launch out of Gansbaai harbour today. This is always a welcome change of scenery as it allows for us to explore Walker bay a little more and today, the sea was definitely “greener” on the other side.

Our first sighting was of a very shy raft of African Penguins, they disappeared almost as soon as they saw us and moved quite a distance away so we decided to leave them and move on. Our next sighting was of a slightly larger raft of penguins who did something amazing. We have become very accustomed to the shy nature of these birds and so the entire crew (both at sea and ashore) were shocked and delighted when suddenly, the little guys decided that we were worthy of approach. This was absolutely amazing as we were able to get some beautiful photos and have a nice close look at them. They would approach us and then take a dive, following this pattern a couple of times (which we could see through the crystal clear water) which made for a spectacular sighting.

After watching this, enthralled, we left the little ones to be and set our eyes on a large group of Cape Gannets sitting on the water. If the Atlantic Ocean had a beauty Pageant, these stunning birds would win hands down with their crisp white feathers, golden-yellow head and striking blue eyes.  These birds were completely unperturbed by our presence and let us admire them fully before we made our way around Danger Point. Once we reached the tip, we stopped briefly at Birkenhead Rock where Sandra explained the sinking of the HMS Birkenhead and the commemoration held this morning.

Our next sighting came as a surprise when some Common Dolphins popped up next to the boat in the open ocean. We do not see these guys are frequently as some of our other dolphin species so this is always a treat. These beautiful dolphins are also a little more boat confident and we were incredibly lucky to have them bow ride with us. They stayed with us for a good 15 minutes, exposing the distinctive yellow side stripe associated with our common dolphins.

After this, we head towards Dyer Island where we had a look at the seals before heading back towards Kleinbaai harbour. It started to get a bit chilly towards the end of the trip so the warm soup was a welcome conclusion to the trip.

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